FINE WINE FROM A BIG EGG
IT LOOKS like a seven-foot Easter egg and it might just be the next big thing in winemaking. The ovoid-shaped wine fermenter has been gaining popularity in France in recent years as more and more wine producers turn to biodynamic methods. Proponents believe the shape, the symbol of life and fertility, is important as it represents the perfect shape in physics, creating and capturing the energy of the vortex whirlpool.
Chateau Petrus, Domaine de la Romanee Conti and Chapoutier are among the high-profile makers employing the egg in their winemaking. In Australia, Cumulus Wines trialled the egg for the 2009 vintage and winemakers are very happy with the results. Winemaker Andrew Bilenkji first saw the eggs when he worked a vintage in Burgundy and persuaded his boss, Cumulus chief executive Jeffrey Wilkinson, to invest in a $6000 egg, one of the first in Australia.
Andrew fermented a parcel of chardonnay as a trial and has been so pleased with the results that he wants to use the wine as a component in the Cumulus 2009 chardonnay. "The wine is rich and very leesy," says the winemaker, who notes that the egg shape seems to produce a more energetic fermentation. The fermenter is made of cement and is unlined. The only preparation required before using it is a wash down with a tartaric solution.